CULLOWHEE, N.C. (Jan. 13, 2026) - The ETSU men's basketball team visits the Western Carolina Catamounts on Wednesday at 6:00pm. The game is Nexstar's SoCon Game of the Week and will be available in the Tri-Cities on Nexstar station WJHL as well as on ESPN+.

MATCHUP: ETSU (12-5, 4-0) at Western Carolina (5-10, 1-3)
DATE: January 13, 2026, 6:00pm
VENUE: Ramsey Regional Activity Center (Cullowhee, NC)
TV: WJHL, ESPN+ (Pete Yanity, Dean Keener, Dave Friedman)
RADIO: WXSM-AM 640 (Jay Sandos)
LIVE STATS: StatBroadcast.com
 
ETSU's 4-0 start has them alone atop the SoCon two weeks in with an average margin of victory of 17.75 points. Redshirt sophomore Blake Barkley has been a focal point of the offense for the Bucs, averaging 20 points per game in conference play including a career-high 24 against UNCG on Saturday. ETSU leads the SoCon in field goal percentage (49.4%) and effective field goal percentage (56.0%), ranking 30th and 47th in Division I, respectively. The defense is still among the nation's best, ranking 29th in scoring defense (66.2), 41st in field goal percentage defense (40.0%), 20th in steals per game (9.6) and 113th in blocks per game (3.8). They lead the SoCon in all four categories.

The Catamounts are 1-3 to start SoCon play, but all four of their games have been decided by five or fewer points with two games ending in overtime. They beat Furman 80-77 in OT on January 3 and lost to The Citadel in Charleston 79-77 in overtime. They are one of the most effective teams in the country in extending possessions through prolific offensive rebounding. They average 16 second chance points and 16 offensive rebounds per game in SoCon play, with a SoCon leading average of 13.73 rebounds per game in all contests that sits 31st nationally. Marcus Kell and Cord Stansberry lead the attack, averaging just north of 13 points per game each. Stansberry has scored 15 or more points in three of the first four SoCon games.

The ETSU-Western Carolina rivalry predates the Buccaneers moniker at ETSU. The two teams first met in 1931 and have played 94 times, making the Catamounts ETSU's third most common opponent in men's basketball. The Bucs own a large advantage in the series overall at 63-31, but the Catamounts have won seven of the last eight and four straight in Cullowhee. ETSU's last win in the series was January 22, 2025, when Jayden Seymour dropped 34 on the Catamounts to key an 85-58 rout at Freedom Hall. The last win in Cullowhee was led by Ledarrius Brewer's 15 points, 13 of which came after halftime, to give the Bucs a 59-48 victory on January 20, 2021.

For more information on ETSU men's basketball, go to ETSUBucs.com.